"Ugh—" Luo Ye plunged her hand directly into her mouth, and amidst intense gag reflexes, an Illusion was vomited out, landing in her hand and transforming into a dark red pistol with fleshy growths and bone spurs.
Holding the child in one hand and the gun in the other, she spun and danced on the spot, firing in all directions.
The bullets precisely targeted the thugs in every crowd, hitting their heads and killing them, including the human bomb.
A seemingly dangerous attack was neutralized within seconds, from the first shot to the end, it was instantaneous.
Luo Ye, holding the child, kneaded the gun into a glutinous rice ball-like Illusion and stuffed it into her mouth. After swallowing it, she muttered, "Ugh, eating it back is also disgusting."
"Miss Luo Ye! It's too dangerous for you to act so suddenly, you're getting out of sync with us!" At this moment, a group of plainclothes officers appeared by the roadside. Some went to maintain order, others to move bodies, and one person approached Luo Ye with some trepidation, saying.
"What a waste of time. You dump a bunch of tasks on me and then drag your feet. Where do I have the time to waste with you?" Luo Ye tossed the still dazed child to the person. "It seems the Processing Bureau hasn't improved much."
The other party could only chuckle awkwardly.
At this moment, the child suddenly reacted, "Th-thank you, big sister! This is for you!"
Luo Ye narrowed her eyes. "No need... Hmm? Is this a new one?"
Her Stunned was naturally because what the child held was a two-headed taboo, a taboo.
"I just got it from a gacha..." The child smiled, showing it off, then reluctantly said, "It's for you!"
"I'll take it." Luo Ye changed her mind very quickly, without any shame.
The Processing Bureau personnel in front immediately looked a bit envious: "The latest gacha limited edition of the taboo series! Damn it, I've been busy from the beginning of the year until now and haven't even had a chance to try. Do they still have them here in Xixi Keke?"
Luo Ye's smile instantly brightened upon hearing that: "No wonder. The few advantages of reality are probably here. Little brat, you are so generous and grateful, you will surely achieve great things in the future."
"Hehe, it's nothing. After all, compared to this two-faced taboo, I prefer the latest Singer King..."
"Miss Luo Ye! Calm down!" The Processing Bureau personnel had been chuckling and agreeing, saying, "taboo is indeed older, the new Singer King is very handsome," but then they saw Luo Ye's expression collapse and quickly shouted.
"It's normal for children not to have seen taboo! They'll naturally encounter this classic when they see more in the future!"
Luo Ye's emotions came and went quickly; she knew she shouldn't get angry with a child: "Tsk, no taste. What are parents doing these days? If they don't cultivate their children's aesthetic and acceptance abilities from a young age, how will they achieve great things when they grow up?"
"Dad said the older taboos aren't suitable for me to see..." The child said cautiously.
"Is what your parents say always right? You're not young anymore; you should have your own opinions on such matters. You should focus on the core rather than superficial things! Speak your demands loudly, and the spirit of rebellion is also very important, remember that!" Luo Ye was inexplicably serious with the child.
The Processing Bureau personnel in front of her were sweating profusely, and the child was also completely bewildered.
Who would understand this?
Finally, when things were mostly handled, the Processing Bureau personnel dispersed one after another.
Luo Ye turned around, satisfied with the gacha...
"Oh~, the spirit of rebellion is also very important, isn't it~?" Zheng Fan stood with his arms crossed, looking down at Luo Ye with a comical expression.
Luo Ye saw Zheng Fan, looked up at him, and after a moment of silence, said, "What are you doing hanging up there?"
When Zheng Fan made that gesture, he was still acting like a hanged ghost. Only when Luo Ye said that did he realize, untie the red string, put away his disguise, and landed in front of her.
Then he explained himself: "Silently criticizing the ugliness of reality."
"Uh." Luo Ye's mouth slightly opened, looking at Zheng Fan, not knowing what to say.
Zheng Fan smiled, narrowed his eyes, and suddenly opened his mouth, emitting Luo Ye's voice: "Is what your parents say always right!? You're not young anymore..."
He continued speaking until the final spirit of rebellion, while Luo Ye looked bewildered.
Zheng Fan reverted to his own voice: "Cough, cough, that was so well said, truly a righteous argument for a child's innocent period. Just hearing it makes me feel the flames of adolescence burning."
"Tsk." Luo Ye clicked her tongue.
"So, is Miss Luo such a hypocritical person?"
"What are you doing here?"
"Changing the subject is a sign of being in the wrong and feeling guilty~."
Luo Ye's veins bulged: Damn it, how could two people say that to her within a few days.
Zheng Fan, seeing her expression, had already had enough fun, and said a little more relaxed: "They are waiting for you with great vigilance because of your matter, you scared them quite a bit."
"Hmph, they deserve it." Luo Ye grunted.
...
"Xiao Lin! Sherlock Holmes is so cool! I'm going to ship him and Watson!"
"Shut up, watch the show quietly, ship your head."
Hong Yijia and Lin Yilin were leisurely watching a series of Sherlock Holmes films that Zheng Fan had bought, having this conversation while snacking.
...
At an outdoor table of a street restaurant, Luo Ye casually ordered some dishes from the menu, then tossed the menu in front of Zheng Fan.
"I can't eat it anyway."
"I have a way for you to eat. Just order whatever." Luo Ye waved her hand dismissively.
Zheng Fan raised an eyebrow and ordered a whole bunch.
Luo Ye finally glanced over the menu; she naturally wouldn't frown over such a small amount of money and placed the order directly.
"The treatment with me is not bad, right? At least I can let you eat something." While waiting for the food, Luo Ye said.
"I can conjure edible things for myself; I don't need it." Zheng Fan refused with an air of composure, then said, "I thought you weren't interested in real-world matters. Why are you helping the Processing Bureau?"
"There are plenty of people who want to give me money after hearing I'm back. Capable people don't worry about such things. I just pick some tasks that are pleasing to the eye and close by." Luo Ye said.
"Very busy?"
"Just minor things. Some people are restless before the Black World approaches; some preliminary arrangements need to be cleared up."
"You're very skilled."
"If you were thrown into a pile of Illusions and grew up there since childhood, you'd be skilled too. Ah~ sorry, you are an Illusion, you act so much like a human that I always mistake you. You are the second most human-like Illusion I've seen, and if we only consider appearance, you're the first." Luo Ye said with a smile.
"There's even a first one?" Zheng Fan noticed keenly.
"That's not important." Luo Ye brushed it off lightly.
"Heh, I'm very clear about your aversion to Illusions. The core conflict in your issue with Lin Yilin isn't actually about Lin Yilin, but about your aversion to Illusions, right?" Zheng Fan chuckled.
Luo Ye did not answer immediately.
"You said Binary Little Sister is very similar to you, so you naturally couldn't have failed to anticipate her response to your proposal. You're like a wicked stepmother who knows better but insists on doing it, or you could be a self-righteous, willful little girl. There's no essential difference between the two. Perhaps it's to prevent Binary Little Sister from repeating some of your past mistakes; you saw your shadow in Binary Little Sister, and then you completely imposed your shadow on her, in a more fragile and demeaning form."
"You're quite good at reading people." Luo Ye said in a deep voice, "Can a few half-baked invasions grow to this extent?"
Zheng Fan looked up and said: "I only saw effort and sweat. Ninety-nine percent for myself, zero point nine percent, I'll give to Binary Little Sister, and zero point one to Little Zombie... Sorry, I got off topic. At first, I really wanted your body, but now I highly doubt your compatibility with me. To be honest, I have a useless body with such low compatibility that it's worse than an ordinary person's initially, you might..."
"Can you always stay by Lin Yilin's side in your current form?" Luo Ye suddenly asked.
"Hmm... not sure."
"You can't be sure, can you? Will you abandon her later or just possess her directly out of impatience?"
"Depends on the situation."
"Ambiguous, well, at least it's better than mine." Luo Ye said.
"Oh?"
"Illusions are untrustworthy. There was an Illusion once that promised to help me escape my predicament, but it vanished without a trace. It transformed my body into this state, deeply engraving the family's ancestral Illusion Art onto my body, which only made me sink further into Illusions." Luo Ye lightly traced her finger across the corner of her mouth.
Zheng Fan blinked.
Luo Ye continued: "Illusions cannot carry a person's entire life. You have human consciousness but don't even know what you are. Lin Yilin isn't normal either; her pathological 'interest' and thirst for knowledge are deeper than my twisted interests. If no one watches her, she'll sooner or later shatter into pieces. I don't trust you, but I can accept her joining a more mature platform so others can keep an eye on you two. If she refuses, then it's better to cut off unnecessary things early; maintaining her current small-scale antics is quite cute."
"Well said, but I neither want to be controlled by you, nor can I truly promise anyone an entire lifetime. You know, I'm just an Illusion." Zheng Fan nodded.
"Just an Illusion, huh..." Luo Ye seemed a little dazed.
During their conversation, many dishes had already been served.
However, the serving staff and other customers around looked at her talking to herself with strange expressions.
Luo Ye vomited a test tube marked with a biohazard symbol from her mouth, and in Zheng Fan's astonished gaze, poured it onto the food in front of them.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"Letting you, an Illusion, eat." Luo Ye swallowed the test tube again. "It seems Lin Yilin didn't give you the full rundown. Panic-type Illusions can do this kind of thing, it's like simulating a Black World overlap. The effect is short, eat quickly."
"Panic-type Illusion... The label on that thing earlier certainly looked quite panic-inducing."
Zheng Fan was still hesitating, but Luo Ye had already started eating.
Finally, under a provocative look from Luo Ye, Zheng Fan also gave in.
Delicious.
Both of them ate very quickly. Luo Ye's unrestrained eating and taking made Zheng Fan almost wonder who had ordered most of the dishes on the table.
Too unrestrained.
When the meal was finished, Luo Ye took out her phone and typed quickly.
"What are you doing?"
"Rating this restaurant on a review website. It's not bad."
"You say reality is boring, but you care about quite a lot of things after all." Zheng Fan said.
After finishing the review, Luo Ye looked up at Zheng Fan: "So that's how it is. I don't trust you, I can't rest assured leaving Lin Yilin with you, and I do indeed want you. My mind won't change, but violence is the underlying logic of the world; you can beat me into submission."
"In that regard, you're quite reasonable. Don't worry, I'll pull your intestines out and tie them around your neck, after all, with all that red on you, it feels like you're missing a brightly colored scarf." Zheng Fan rubbed his stomach, his words sounding much more pleasant after his appetite was satisfied.
"Then by all means, don't hold back. Let me see how strong you are." Luo Ye finished speaking, then suddenly threw her head back and laughed several times, then stood up and strode away under the increasingly convinced stares of passersby who clearly thought she was crazy.
"Red-haired lunatic." Zheng Fan repeated the name for her.
...
"...Will you take me back? Back to reality..."
"Yes, I promise." A blurry voice, that figure like a twisted vortex, responded.
"That's great, when we go back, we can eat hot meals together, play together..."
"But you have to know, I'm just an Illusion..."
In her mind, the conversation echoed.
Luo Ye closed her eyes, then opened them again, her steps unwavering.